by:
Raviv, Dan

Publisher:
Marvel Comics
Published:August 4, 2004
ISBN:0785116060
Format:Unbound
Pages:352

Description: From Publishers Weekly
Raviv, coauthor of several books on Israeli politics (Every Spy a Prince; Behind the Uprising), turns to high-stakes finance for his first solo effort, a feisty account of Marvel Comics' meltdown in the 1990s (and slow resurrection, thanks to the success of the movie X-Men and the buzz over this summer's Spider-Man flick). When Ron Perelman bought Marvel in 1989, he described the company, home to heroes like Captain America and the Fantastic Four, as "a mini-Disney in terms of intellectual property." His junk bonds and grandiose expansion plans swiftly raised Marvel's market value to over $3 billion, but also brought its debt past $600 million, at which point corporate raider Carl Icahn smelled blood. He managed to wrest control of the company from Perelman, but the takeover process dragged Marvel through bankruptcy court for years. Raviv's depiction of this clash of the titans is rooted in the perspective of Marvel investors Ike Perlmutter and Avi Arad, whose other company, Toy Biz, made action figures based on Marvel heroes. Their underdog efforts to rescue the company from the Perelman-Icahn conflict, then get movies made to sell comics and action figures, are viewed with sympathy perhaps, in fact, too much sympathy; outlandish claims like Spider-Man is "maybe the best known intellectual property character, on a worldwide basis" routinely pass unchallenged. Fans of the cutthroat finance genre will find much to enjoy in the boardroom confrontations, but those unfamiliar with Marvel may wonder what all the fuss is about, as Raviv's overview of the comics and the characters tends to treat their popularity as a given without exploring the nuances of their success.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to the

Hardcover edition.

Product Description:
Embarrassed billionaires tried to keep a lid on this story, but it cried out to be told: how America's greatest comic-book company was driven to the brink of insolvency by warring tycoons and rescued from the abyss by two obscure but wily entrepreneurs.

In the late 1980s, financier Ronald Perelman, worth billions and riding high after his hostile takeover of the cosmetics firm Revlon, bought Marvel Entertainment-legendary creator of Captain America, the Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, the X-Men, and other superheroes-and he had big plans. He not only began churning out more comic books, he also acquired sports cards and other subsidiaries, impressing Wall Street so much that after he took the company public, Marvel's market value ballooned to over $3 billion.

Perelman took advantage of the company's inflated valuation by selling junk bonds, and personally pocketing nearly $500 million. Meanwhile, Marvel's bank debt rose to more than $600 million. And then came the collapse of the comic-book and trading-card markets.

Enter rival corporate raider, Carl Icahn, who sank a fortune into Marvel's bonds in an effort to wrest away control of Marvel-and to beat Perelman at his own game. As the competing tycoons went head-to-head, Ike Perlmutter and Avi Arad, two entrepreneurs who ran Toy Biz, a company that depended on Marvel superheroes, realized that their fate hung in the balance. They soon put in motion plans to take control themselves.

Bunkered in The Townhouse, his high-security Manhattan corporate headquarters, Perelman had Marvel declare bankruptcy. Icahn, an avid poker player, had to figure out if his foe was bluffing; the Toy Biz entrepreneurs needed to find a way to save the company they loved from ruin; and a team of killer lawyers representing the banks was faced with recouping their colossal debt. Thus, in United States Bankruptcy Court, began the comic war-as ferocious and outlandish as any of Marvel's tales of good vs. evil.

Combining meticulous investigative reporting with entertaining storytelling, Comic Wars exposes the actions and motives of two Goliath-style corporate raiders, two innovative Davids, and some of the world's most prominent banks. It is the rollicking true tale of a unique Wall Street showdown,